


Touhou Reiiden: Highly Responsive to Prayers

by G1gusty



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Adaptation, Highly Responsive to Prayers, Hrtp, th01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 22:43:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18375584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/G1gusty/pseuds/G1gusty
Summary: This story serves as an adaptation of the first Touhou game, Highly Responsive to Prayers. I intend to adapt future games as well, though they'll likely be longer.Please understand that the stage-by-stage format is hard to make interesting in writing, so some characters do not appear and things might not happen in the exact order they happened in the game, for narrative purposes. This mostly applies to TH01 due to the split nature of the game. It's also my first published piece, I hope you enjoy!





	Touhou Reiiden: Highly Responsive to Prayers

Hakurei Shrine. A shinto shrine out in the middle of nowhere. A lone priestess, Reimu Hakurei, tended to it despite her age. No more than nine years old, yet, she was the only one there. Had been as long as she could remember. If it weren’t for the prayers she said out loud to herself every day, she’d have forgotten to talk by now.

But on this day, everything would change. 

It was the middle of the night, Reimu was fast asleep on a simple futon. She was awoken with a loud crash. She jumped right out of her bed and rushed outside to see what had happened. One of the tori gates had been demolished, and the remains set on fire. Standing near the gate was a man, a very tall and slender one with knee-length white hair. 

Reimu gulped and shivered. “H-hey you there!” she called out. “Did you do this?”

The stranger slowly turned his head to face Reimu. He had red eyes that pierced your soul, read deep into it. Judgemental eyes aware of every virtue and sin you’ve committed. He said nothing, just began walking towards the shrine.

Reimu slid back a little. “Who are you?” she asked, wielding her gohei wand in a threatening manner.

“You...are the sole resident here?” it was then that he started slowly walking towards the shrine.

Reimu was both shivering and sweating. “Don’t come any closer!” she said, trying to make it sound like a threat but it came out as more of a desperate plea. Once he was about halfway there, she ran back into the haiden, threw the door closed and locked it tight. It was no help though. Shortly after retreating to the back of the building, something blew the front door in. It was some kind of magical blast. It not only blew the door off its hinges, but most of the wall surrounding it was blown in, too! Fire began spreading across the room, and as the menace sauntered towards her, it looked as if he had six huge feathered wings spread out.

“I almost feel bad killing one young as you,” he said, his voice chilling her to her small bones, “But you and your false gods must be eliminated.” He pointed his hand towards Reimu and prepared another blast. Reimu lept away right as he shot, his wings glowing a bright white as he did so.

Reimu, just barely avoiding obliteration, quickly ran out the hole made in the back by that blast and ran into the honden. There lay the hakureis’ goshintai, a mystical yin-yang orb, resting upon a velvet pillow in front of a mirror. Reimu kneeled on front of it, praying to the shrine’s god.

“I don’t know much about you,” she pleaded, “but please, if you have any power remaining, use it to get rid of this menace!” Just as the winged assailant broke into the room, the orb began to glow, and rise from its luxurious resting place.  
The unknown enemy made his way into the honden. The orb’s light intensified, and it thrust itself into him, hitting him right in the chest. He groaned in pain and jumped back. The orb retreated and began revolving around Reimu.

“Dammit...You win for now, but I’m just getting started. Expect me to return again. Once I’m at my full power you and your ‘god’ will cease to exist!” He spread those wings of his further, and ascended into the sky.

It took a few seconds for Reimu to regain her bearings. What do I do now? she thought to herself. As she gazed across her wrecked shrine, tears began leaking out, accompanied by her light sobs.

“You must be strong, little one.” a voice.

Reimu once again brandished her gohei, though her grip was a lot less tight. “Who now?” she cried, shaking.

“We are a spirit. You may call us SinGyoku” Reimu realized the voice was coming from the orb, and she lowered her gohei.

“You can talk?” Reimu asked, kneeling beside it. She sniffed and wiped her face with her sleeve, her grief subsiding.

“That we can.”

“Then why haven’t you said anything until just now!?” she said, running over and kicking the orb like a soccer ball. “I’ve been all alone when-NO!” as she spoke the orb bounced off a tree and hit her right in the abdomen, nearly knocking the wind out of her.

“We were not awake!” it said. It’s voice sounded like both a man’s and a woman’s speaking at the same time. “The angel’s destruction awoke us.”

Reimu pulled herself up, clutching her stomach with one hand. “Are you the god of this shrine?”

“We are not, we simply serve him, alongside you. We are a conduit, a connection to them. No one but you can hear us, our voice is specially reserved for the Hakurei bloodline.”

Reimu picked up the orb, holding it in both hands. “But what do we do about that angel man? He said he’ll be back.”

“That he will. We must follow his trail and attack while he is weakened.”

“Attack? What am I supposed to do? Throw you?”  
“Not quite.” the orb said. “Your physical strength alone won’t be enough to cause damage. Your wand, on the other hand, can knock it with great force despite your own power. Now we must hurry; we have traced his energy and will direct you right to him.”

Reimu nodded. “I hope you know what you’re saying.” she said, following the direction indicated by the orb. “Going this far, If I ever got a donation once in my life I’d be worried about them getting stolen.”

Thus, their adventure began. The orb pointed towards the mountains. The walk was only about an hour until they found him again. The angel was channeling some sort of spell, and there was a girl with him; teenaged with a red dress and blonde hair.

“Master Sariel, look!” she said, pointing to the uninvited shaman.

“There you are you, you...menace!” Reimu said, raising her wand once again. “I’m not scared this time!”

Sariel looked back only a little,trying to not break his concentration on his spell. “Drat. I thought you’d still be on the ground weeping.” 

“Don’t worry, I can hold them back!” the red dressed girl said. Sariel nodded and continued channeling.

“Should I attack her, SinGyoku?” Reimu whispered. “She just looks like a normal human.”

“She is not...there’s an evil aura about her.” SinGyoku. “She feels like a youkai...she must be exterminated.”

“Okay...If you say so.” Reimu said, tossing the orb into the air, and knocking it in the girl’s direction. The orb went flying...and missed by a mile.

Reimu was silent, her wide eyes fixed on the orb. The red-dressed girl saw her chance and lept onto Reimu, pinning her onto the ground and flashing long fangs. She tried to force Reimu’s head aside, for easy access to her neck, and Reimu was trying to push against her force. But the youkai girl was stronger than our young hero. She was going to give out anytime now. 

However, the orb was bouncing back and forth among the trees like a pinball. With neither of them paying attention, it bounced its way out of them and smashed into the youkai girl’s side, knocking her several feet away.

She pulled herself up, holding the site of impact. Reimu once again held the orb, prepared to smack it at her again. “I won’t miss this time! I swear it!”

“Elis, come with me.” Sariel said. “The path is open, we must go.” he pulled her into the portal he opened. “And to make sure you don’t follow…” he said, summoning what looked like a being of light in front of the portal. “Once the demon queen is dealt with, you’ll get your reward.” he assured Elis, patting her on the back as they went deeper in.

Reimu tried to march right in, but the figure of light grabbed her by the hair and slammed her into the ground, flat on her back. She pulled herself up, prepared the orb and thwacked it with the wand. Unlike last time it hit the mark, but the golden figure was unharmed, and reflected it back at Reimu. Not very fast though; like a ball bouncing of a wall, Reimu was able to catch it just fine.

“Reimu, look up!” SinGyoku said. She did so, and saw five evil looking eyes looming above the figure.

“What the heck!?” Reimu yelled. “They, they’re just staring at me!”

“Hit those, Reimu! They’re connected to her.” SinGyoku said.

Reimu looked at the orb, and back at the eyes. “Here goes nothing, I guess.” she said, throwing the orb up and hitting it towards the eyes. Once again, she missed.

“How am I supposed to hit it upwards like this?” she said, trying over and over again to no avail.

“Is there any way you could get higher up?” SinGyoku asked. Reimu looked around, and spotted a tall tree.

“That tree’s real high up but I don’t think I can climb it.” Reimu said. “I’ll fall and die, probably.”

“I can help you. Hold onto me tight.” SinGyoku said. Reimu held the orb to her chest, her arms around it as if it were a small animal. Gently and slowly at first, they began to float into the air. Reimu couldn’t believe her eyes. Sure in this land anything is possible, but she was just a young, seemingly normal human. The yellow glowing figure seemed to pay no attention to them, but those eyes, its true visage, were locked tight onto them.

SinGyoku landed them on a thick branch several meters high, a bit higher up than the evil eyes.

“You’ll be able to get me down, right?” Reimu asked, looking down. The ground seemed so much farther than it really was. SinGyoku assured it could lower them as she prepared for her strike. Aiming downwards was definitely easier than upwards. But she hesitated. She’d missed at least two thirds of her shots, one of the hits being just dumb luck.

 

Taking a few deep breaths, Reimu threw caution to the wind and whacked that orb as hard as she could. It hit the middle eye rather off-center, causing it to bounce between the middle eye and the eye to its right. Rapidly it did this for at least 30 seconds. Reimu watched it, her eyes darting back and forth. Completely forgetting about the fatal drop less than an inch from both sides. Eventually they eyes weakened too much to hold the golden figure in place; it dissipated.

SinGyoku quickly dislodged itself, and flung itself to Reimu. She caught it with almost no trouble.

“You’re learning very quickly, child.” it said. Reimu quietly thanked it as it lowered her back down to the ground. “The way to Makai is now clear. We must hurry.” Reimu nodded, and ran into the rift.

Makai was...certainly different from gensokyo. The landscape was dark and mostly plain-like, adorned with odd angular patterns in lieu of grass. Reimu could see for miles in any direction she looked, as if this realm was flat rather than the round earth she lived upon. Like it was self contained, not bound to her universe.

Far away in that endless plain were many structures. Towns perhaps? Amongst them were a massive castle, made from a sort of shining blue crystal. Not far from it was something glowing in the center of four large spikes, curving inward like they were containing the power of whatever was giving off the glow.

“That’s where we must go!” SinGyoku said. “Sariel is attempting to set up a temple; a stronghold for attacking Makai.”

“Wait.” Reimu said, holding the orb in front of her face. “Why should we stop him if he’s attacking Makai? I mean I want to catch him for destroying my shrine, but if he’s gonna take care of the demons maybe we should let that go through first?”

“Absolutely not! He likely intends to absorb the Demon Queen’s power. If he does that he will be unstoppable.” SinGyoku explained.

Reimu slowly nodded. “Ooooh I see. Lets get him then!” she said, going full steam ahead to the temple.

About halfway to it, they had to run through some ruins. Looked like an old city of some kind. Several stone buildings, all severely damaged. Many broken signs in an old language she couldn’t read. Chills started to race up her spine. Her gaze was darting around, not focused on one singular object.

Her fear was not unfounded. From within the shadows, something sneaked behind Reimu, but before it pounced, Reimu turned around and whacked it with her gohei, as if by instinct.

Lying before her, reeling back from the gohei holy powers, was Elis.

“Woah...how’d I do that?” Reimu said, looking at the wand.

SinGyoku started to glow slightly. “It’s your powers as the Hakurei Priest...My assistance here has helped you in unlocking it”

“Wow...wonder what powers I’ll get next!” she said, hopping and giggling.

“Oh...oh…” Elis sounded dazed as she tried to get up. An odd burn of some kind had appeared on her cheek where she was struck. “You little bitch! I oughta tear you to shreds!” 

Her superhuman reflexes seemed to leave her as Elis grappled her, once again trying to sink her long fangs into her flesh. “SinGyoku! Help me!” Reimu pleaded.

The orb, however, was rolling away fast down a hill. Reimu was all alone with a vicious pissed off vampire in an unfamiliar world. She and Elis continued to struggle for what felt like an hour. Until Reimu loosened her grip. Elis, not expecting it, continued giving her full strength. She was thrown off balance and stumbled forward, while Reimu stepped out of her way. Reimu then pulled out an ofuda, and stuck it to the back of her neck.

Elis fell flat on her front, gasping and trying to pull the seal off. In her weakness, Reimu raised her purification rod, and slammed the end into Elis’s back. Despite being blunt in the end, it plunged deep into her flesh like a spear. She screamed in agony as she slowly disintegrated, starting at the wound and fanning out to her whole body until she was but a pile of ash on the ground.

Reimu stared wide-eyed at the pile of ash for a while before trekking off to find her orb. When she did, she simply picked it up and continued towards the temple.

“Is there something troubling you?” SinGyoku asked.

Reimu held on tightly to the orb. “That vampire...I killed her. Turned to dust.”

“There is no reason to feel bad.” SinGyoku replied, “She was a youkai, a monstrosity. You simply did your duty as a miko.”

Reimu didn’t say anymore, but she was clearly uncomfortable with the whole ordeal. She remained silent the rest of the way to the temple. It finished being produced as they arrived, the glow stopped and the spikes receded back into the ground. They saw Sariel standing in front of the newly conjured building.

“Ha! We found ya!” Reimu said, pointing at him with confidence, seeming to have left her discomfort behind;

“I could feel Elis’s death.” Sariel said. “I figured it was your doing. She did not choose her undead form. I intended to purify her form once I had captured Makai. You robbed her of her new life.” Reimu’s finger grew limp and she lowered her arm. Again that uncomfortable expression grew onto her face. “Yet you think of yourself as a holy woman. Absolutely laughable!”

Tears welled up Reimu’s eyes, though she tried to hold them back. “She- she was trying to kill me I was defending myself!”

“Which would not have been necessary if you has left us alone. We, or should I say I at this point, have good intentions.” he raised his hands, preparing a spell. “There is no reason to defend demons or your little false delusions of ‘faith’”

“Do not feel the need to justify yourself to him.” SinGyoku said. “He uses your guilt against you. You must purge it. His words are empty and hollow.”

“Y-you….” Reimu was still fighting back the tears. “You burn down my shrine, my home, and send a scared little girl to die for you,” She too raised her hands, wielding her rod in one hand, and several ofuda in the other. “And you think you’re the holier one here?” The orb began to revolve around Reimu, and she began to float. “I’ll show you how real my faith is.”

Sariel scowled, and and fired a blast of magic to her, but she reflected it with her rod. He growled and spread his wings. “Please, you haven’t but a fraction of my power!” he said, rushing into the air after her.

He was wrong.

As he flew to her, two large masses of energy formed around Reimu, each shifting through all colors in the spectrum. With a thrust of her rod, they homed right into him. Sariel fell to the ground. Fissures in his skin formed, an odd mist coming from them. At the fissures grew that mist turned to bright light. Before long that light was also emanating from his mouth and eyes as he blew apart in a fiery blaze.

Reimu lowered to the ground. “SinGyoku...we did it.” she said, scooping the orb into her arms.

“We are very proud of you, Reimu.” SinGyoku said. The orb began to shine brighter than it ever had before, and out of it came two ghostly figures; one a man and one a woman. “You truly have inherited the power of the Hakurei bloodline.”

Reimu’s eyes widened. “Are you...the Hakurei god?...or gods I suppose?” she asked, cocking her head to the left. 

“No, no we are not. We were your predecessors.” They spoke in unison, just like when they were in the orb. “It was our responsibility to pass on the Hakurei power, but we met our fate before we could. Thus our spirits inhabited this orb, so we may pass on our power when it was needed.” 

“What are you going to do now?”

“Our job is finished. We shall now take our place among the dead.”

Her look became more somber. “But...what do I do then?”

The two spirits began to fade. “Rebuild the shrine. Seek out Morichika, who is a human, and Genji who is an intelligent turtle. They will assist you further. And do not forget the orb; it has its place in the shrine and still holds great power.” Before long they were entirely out of view.

Reimu hung her head, picked up the now non-sapient orb, and headed back to the Gensokyo portal, once again all alone.


End file.
